My Toolbox

I use this page to document the tools and products I use for your convenience. I’ll continue to add to this list, so I recommend bookmarking it for reference purposes.

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase. Please understand it is extremely important to me to only list tools that I use personally. I recommend them because they have helped me in my business, and not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or they will help you accomplish your goals.

Hosting

WP Engine: If you use WordPress, I highly recommend using them to launch your site. There service offering is hard to beat and they have excellent customer service. If you are serious about your site, these are your guys.

Microsoft Azure: Are you a developer? If you are, this is a great cloud offering with a ton of services to help you host your websites or products. It’s worth taking a look, especially since they offer great FREE-Tier options to get you started.

Blogging

Akismet: This is the WordPress plugin I use to control comment spam. It will reduce the amount of spam that will show up on your site, drastically reducing the comment clutter.

BoxShot3D: This is the software I use to create 3D images of software boxes, e-books, books, etc. It’s an amazing piece of software that makes it easy to create amazing product images.

Flickr Creative Commons: This is where you can get free images for you site, but there are rules you have to follow to legally use the images.

iStockPhoto: If you want your posts to stand out, you have to use photos. They cause your posts to be more appealing to those consuming your content.

WordPress: Easy-to-use website platform that allows you to launch sites quickly and easily. You will find thousands of helpful themes, plugins, and tools to work with WordPress to allow to get your site up and running in no time. Best of all, it’s free.

Email Marketing

MailChimp: Powerful opt-in email list and newsletter tool that allows you to create professional newsletters for your content.

Social Media

Buffer: This tool allows you to schedule your tweets to help you ensure you are publishing your content when your audience is most engaged. Be careful not to abuse those tool so you don’t overwhelm those who are interested in what you have to say.

Tweetbot for iPhone: This app allows you to management your twitter network on the go like a pro. There are also desktop and iPad companion versions of the software that can be found here.

TweetDeck: Application that allows you to management your twitter network more productively by customizing feeds, scheduling tweets, monitoring multiple twitter accounts, and notifications that keep you up-to-date with what’s happening in your social circle on Twitter.

Productivity

Dropbox: Service that allows you to access docs, photos, and videos anywhere and share them easily with others.

Evernote: This tool allows you capture and remember your ideas, projects, experiences, etc. across all your computers, phones, and tablets.

Google Calendar: Having a calendar is essential helping you manage your day. This is the calendar that I use to help me stay productive and organized.

LastPass: Online password manager and form filler that allows you to browse the web easier, while being more secure all at the same time.

Podcasting

Libsyn: Offer podcast hosting and publishing services. This is extremely important because you don’t want to host your podcast files on your blog, because if hundreds or thousands of people try to access your podcast at the same time you could potentially crash your server, cause a spike in extra hosting bill for the month, or cause your site to be shut down.